Thursday, November 17, 2011

pit stop in Bangalore, lots of train...

It was difficult leaving Hampi. It was never a part of my itinerary, I'd never even heard of it before, but I would have been content to stay there a year. It was time to move on, though, and discover what other unknown gems awaited.

We boarded the train in Hospet and traveled through the night, crammed in our seats, unable to manage much sleep. Our seats folded down towards each other to form a small bed, but it was hardly enough room for the two of us, as we tried to keep our feet a respectful distance from each other's nose. It was pretty early when we arrived in Bangalore and I was feeling a little cranky from the long, uncomfortable trip. It was a change being in a city as modernized as Bangalore, but I wasn't very inspired. Actually, I didn't even take out my camera the whole time... We started with coffee and muffins at a nice but relatively expensive cafe, walked around, got ripped off by a taxi driver who initially offered us a free ride (the whole time I knew better, but wanted to believe him), dropped by an internet cafe, and stopped by a pizza chain for some half decent pizza.

Late afternoon, we boarded another all-night train that will get us to Kochi, in the south-western state of Kerala. Boarding the train we passed back and forth though the sweaty kitchen-car with all our bags, squeezing past a line of cooks chopping onions, trying to find our section. The hot air fusing with the onion mist scorched my nostrils but somehow made me eager to order curry rice once we'd settled. We weren't seated for long before a man selling milk-chai for 5 rupees came passing through. It was one of the few things in India I didn't have to haggle for and even though I don't enjoy milk or black tea (the only tea I'm not fond of) I really enjoyed it in India.

For several miles, leaving the station, the track was lined with little houses, sometimes pressed right up to the track. Another thing I noticed was the garbage all over the tracks. When I was finished eating and not sure where to put the paper plate it was served in, the man sitting by us demonstrated by tossing his out the barred windows.

I was interesting seeing the country pass by the window. It was the first time we gone very far during day light, the short bit of it we had left. By morning, we'll have traveled nearly to the southern tip of the subcontinent.